Court documents reveal Gina Rinehart’s battle with the books
BILLIONAIRE Gina Rinehart used company money to pay her own legal fees in her family trust fight with daughter Bianca, buy two Singapore apartments for $43 million, and pay her coterie of directors $214 million in six years, explosive court documents say.
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IRON ore billionaire Gina Rinehart used company money to pay her own legal fees in her family trust fight, buy two Singapore apartments for $43 million, and pay her coterie of directors $214 million in six years, according to explosive court documents.
Mrs Rinehart’s right-hand man at Hancock Prospecting (HPPL), director Tad Watroba, scored a massive eightfold increase in pay last year to $16 million — double the pay and perks for the nation’s biggest bank boss — the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court yesterday also alleges.
In a rare peek into the company’s inner workings, the affidavit alleges that when asked to explain the pay rise and other director’s payments Mrs Rinehart’s daughter and HPPL substantial shareholder Bianca was told the matters were “private and confidential”.
The affidavit filed by Bianca is part of proceedings she has initiated against her mother over corporate governance and distribution of assets in HPPL.
Bianca is concerned that such a large sum of money would be apparently committed without any formal documentation - Solicitor Timothy Price
Bianca is trustee of the $4 billion family trust, which owns almost 25 per cent of the company, and is seeking through the legal action to access the company’s books and records.
The affidavit signed by Bianca’s solicitor Timothy Price also alleges Mrs Rinehart pledged $175 million of HPPL money, via a charitable trust, to the Northern Territory government to build a cancer hospital.
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The money was, however, pledged without any formal agreement and Mrs Rinehart withdrew the donation, after winning a prize for being philanthropist of the year.
The withdrawal came after Northern Territory chief minister Adam Giles lost government. Mr Giles now works for a pastoral arm of the HPPL empire.
“Bianca is concerned that such a large sum of money would be apparently committed without any formal documentation and the relevant government having no records of any agreement,” Mr Price says in the affidavit.
Bianca’s barrister Dr Andrew Bell SC told the Supreme Court yesterday as a 25 per cent shareholder of HPPL she was entitled to more information: “It is in the interests of the beneficiaries of the trust to find out what is happening in the company and continue to find out what is happening in the company.”
Mrs Rinehart’s own pay was $5.99 million in 2017, significantly less than Mr Watroba’s $16.1 million, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also alleges that when Bianca asked why the company owned property such as the two Sentosa Cove apartments in Singapore, Mrs Rinehart began buying some of the apartments back.
“From 14 October 2016, Bianca has been seeking information about a number of substantial residential and recreational properties apparently owned by HPPL and their apparent use for the benefit of Gina,” it says.
HPPL confirmed the transfer to Mrs Rinehart last year of a luxury apartment on The World for $10.2 million and a sublease for the penthouse in the Four Seasons hotel for $4.25 million, the affidavit says.
Mrs Rinehart also paid back to HPPL her legal fees, plus interest, incurred during her protracted dispute with Bianca over control of the family trust the affidavit says.